Phantasy Star 0 Review by: Clover
Gameplay 10/10: If you are familiar with any of the Phantasy Star Online games, you will be quite comfortable with Phantasy Star 0 for the DS. All of the things we expect from a Phantasy Star game are here: a variety of character classes, weapons, techniques, cities, area maps, etc. You begin by creating a custom character. In this game, there are 3 races: Humans (generally well rounded), CASTs (robots) and Newmans (who deal mostly with magic). Each race has 4 sub classes, giving you 12 characters to chose from, all with different strengths and weaknesses. Once your customized character is created, you can jump into the story mode. Each race has a slightly different story that you can play through, with interesting dialogue. From there, you do quests which involve defeating monsters in different locations. You can stick to the main quests which advance the story mode, or do side quests to level up your character and search for items. There are many options for fine-tuning your character's stats to maximize it's battling potential (depending on how technical you want to get with the game). There are items to increase points in stats, a Mag/Pet which when fed certain items will also give you stat boosts, weapons that you can customize (see #2 in what makes this game unique), and more. Sound: 8/10: The sound track is very pleasant to listen to. It's hard to rate music since everyone has their own opinion, but I enjoy the melodies this game has to offer. Graphics: 8/10:The 3D graphics in this game are good for a handheld system. The images are bright and colorful, and the levels are well planned out. The characters and monsters all have interesting designs as well. There are cut scenes in the game that are fully animated in the Japanese anime style (which look sharp on the DS). The the character voices are easy to listen to, and the scenes offer you a bit of eye candy. What makes the game unique:
1) A draw chat system while using wifi with a friend or wireless play with someone near by. It serves as a handy way to quickly communicate something, and gives you something to do when you are waiting for a team member to catch up or come back from restocking supplies in town. 2) Weapons! There are many weapons, and many ways to upgrade and customize them to your liking. (applying elements to weapons, strengthening with grinders, etc) Gag weapons can be found throughout the game as well (Ketchup Gun, Watering can shooter, witch broom, etc...) But aside from the gag weapons, most have the futuristic Phantasy Star look to them. There is even a place where you can see all of the weapons you've collected, and it lets you know how close you are to finding all of them. You could go through story mode all the way and not come close to getting them all. 3) A wifi system that doesn't require a friend code. This option allows you to play online with anyone, which is nice if you want to jump right into the action and forget the storyline for a while. You are more limited in communication here (see #2 in "what the game needs") but it is still handy for people who do not have any friend codes registered. What the game needs:
1) I think it would've been interesting to have at least one more alternate costume for each class. Every class has alternate colors, but only one costume to wear. In other versions of Phantasy Star, there are multiple costumes to chose from. In the Game Cube version, you were able to pick any color in the spectrum for hair. In PS0 there are about 4 hair colors for every class which feels a bit limited. 2) More pre-set phrases for wifi play! You are quite limited with the phrases it gives you. You cannot say "Bye" or "Logging off now" so if you have to leave, all you can do is sign off without warning. Also, you can't even say "Yes" or "No" which would be beneficial. In the GC version, the list went on and on for preset commands. You could ask about what country people were from, their hobbies, and the list goes on. 3) BETTER A.I.!!! In all honesty, this is my biggest complaint. First of all, your team mates are very weak, and they don't seem to get stronger as you go through story mode. If you are doing 100+ damage to a monster, they are still doing 6-12 damage. The only thing they are really good for is picking off weaker monsters while you help yourself to item crates (occasionally they heal you or take off status effects). There are commands that you can select on the touch screen that allow you to direct what you want your teammates to do, though it seems like they do as they please anyway. They will attack monsters even if you select "Safety first" or "Keep your distance" even though they confirm that they understood your command. They will often stand directly in harms way, and the only thing you can do is watch and wonder what they are thinking. Finally: they do not revive you if you die before them. If you die, they simply stop attacking whatever monster or boss you may be on. It's like they gave up hope! Once you are dead, they stand around like they forgot how to fight. It's really sad. As you level up, their incompetence becomes less noticeable.
